Duchess Meghan didn’t let her father, Thomas Markle, in on the exciting news that she is expecting a baby with husband Prince Harry, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly.

“Meghan did not tell Thomas Markle about the pregnancy,” the source told Us on Monday, October 15, just hours after the announcement. “He found out the same time as the rest of the world.”

Duchess Meghan’s strained relationship with her dad has made headlines over the past few months. The retired lighting director was caught staging paparazzi photos just days before the royal wedding in May, and did not attend the couple’s nuptials. Thomas has since spoken out on multiple occasions referring to the royal family as “cult-like” and “like Scientologists or the Stepford family.”

A source told Us in August that the mom-to-be “is still anxious” about her father, “wondering if this will go on forever.” The insider noted that Meghan is “worrying about when it will stop, or if it even will.”

“Doria is so delighted about the news of her first grandchild,” the source tells Us. “Doria has been helping Meghan through this time in her life immensely. Meghan really looks to Doria for all advice in anything she does.”

Ragland recently visited the couple at Kensington Palace in September. The insider adds: “One of the reasons Doria flew to the UK for the cookbook event was to be there for Meghan for her first professional event, but mostly because it was the biggest time in her personal life as well.” (The former actress helped commission a charity cookbook titled Together: Our Community Cookbook.)

News of their growing family was announced by Kensington Palace in the early hours of Monday morning, shortly after the couple landed in Australia to begin their first international tour together.

“Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019,” the palace’s statement read. “Their Royal Highnesses have appreciated all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share this happy news with the public.”

With reporting by Jennifer Peros

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